Did we ever figure out the Nixon/Frost writer's contribution?

I assume the Nixon/Frost guy came up with something about M. or M. and the villain, and that Logan regurgitated the NOC list from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. If the Nixon/Frost guy's sole contribution is one aspect, it ought to be a pretty damned impressive one, not just a re-riffing.

I'm more than a little confused and concerned about the new history of Bond revolving around his heritage to any degree at all. Seems like rather than settling into a 'veteran Bond' we're still getting a guy who is all over the place in rather un-Bond like ways, what with the 'staying dead' aspect being something he chooses to do rather than it happening to him (like the end of Fleming's YOLT), and then the impression that he has lost his touch in terms of shooting and such, which certainly never happened to any Bond in print I know of. To me this smacks of more revisionism for its own sake (like the new history of his acquiring a DB5 in CR, when it wasn't even his car in the Connery films.)

trevanian wrote:

I assume the Nixon/Frost guy came up with something about M. or M. and the villain,

It's never really been detailed, but I'm guessing that Morgan's "big hook" revolves around the idea of something in M's backstory being less than savoury, and/or Silva having a personal connection to Bond.

trevanian wrote:

and that Logan regurgitated the NOC list from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. If the Nixon/Frost guy's sole contribution is one aspect, it ought to be a pretty damned impressive one, not just a re-riffing.

Why do you assume John Logan came up with that? Why not Purvis and Wade?

I was wondering how long it would take to make the connection to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, and who would be the first to make it. Didn't think it would be you. But I don't really see the connection, since both are really MacGuffins and both are used in totally different ways. In MI, the NOC list was used to expose the mole within the agency. In SKYFALL, the list is being used to embarrass M.

trevanian wrote:

the impression that he has lost his touch in terms of shooting and such, which certainly never happened to any Bond in print I know of.

The trailer makes it pretty clear that Bond has been missing for three months. Given that he was shot and nearly killed, and that the images (the bar) and his dialogue ("Enjoying death") imply that he hasn't been too concerned with keeping his skills sharp, it's pretty obvious that he's a little rusty. Also bear in mind that Mallory is a government agent appointed to review MI6 - and Bond has been a controversial agent at the best of times (like when he shot Mollaka on camera), he probably demands that Bond go through physical training again. Especially if he thinks M is being too quick to use his reappearance to deal with the threat posed by Silva.

Quote :

I was wondering how long it would take to make the connection to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, and who would be the first to make it. Didn't think it would be you. But I don't really see the connection...

How can you not see the connection but be aware of it to the extent you anticipated it being brought up?

Because it's been brought up numerous times in other forums.

Didn't Peter Morgan say that BOND 23 (as it was known in those days) would have "a shocking story"?

Figure out the "shocking" part(s) of SKYFALL's plot and you've figured out Morgan's contribution (maybe),

Vesper wrote:

How can you not see the connection but be aware of it to the extent you anticipated it being brought up?

Because it's not being utilised in the same way. Films use similar elements all the time, but the difference is in the application of them.

I remember some rumour about Avian flu. Don't recall if it had anything to do with Morgan though.

I remember that one. It came up shortly after the release of QUANTUM OF SOLACE, when everyone thought that the ending of the film was setting up the beginning of the next with Bond going after the Quantum leak in the Canadian Intelligence Services (which was not the point of the ending at all). I seem to recall the rumour being that the plot would centre on Quantum releasing a straing of Avain flu to take control of the tar sands in Canada or some such.

But no, it never had anything to do with Morgan's contributions. This was years before Morgan was ever brought on-board.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

trevanian wrote:

I assume the Nixon/Frost guy came up with something about M. or M. and the villain,

It's never really been detailed, but I'm guessing that Morgan's "big hook" revolves around the idea of something in M's backstory being less than savoury, and/or Silva having a personal connection to Bond.

trevanian wrote:

and that Logan regurgitated the NOC list from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. If the Nixon/Frost guy's sole contribution is one aspect, it ought to be a pretty damned impressive one, not just a re-riffing.

Why do you assume John Logan came up with that? Why not Purvis and Wade?

Because most all of Logan's 'creative' output is just recycling stuff slightly under a generation out of date, I guess with the thought than everything old is new again (for the next batch of paying audiences.) He has worked on acclaimed films, but often as one of several writers, and as first writer on stuff like AVIATOR, he was assured principal credit even though his work on the script ended in 1996 or so.

The only purely enjoyable film I associate with him (assuming it is all him) is RANGO, which is pretty much a pastiche -- each according to his strengths, I guess. Then again, if I'm in a generous mood, I'd call SPY WHO LOVED ME a pastiche, and I'm guessing that is what they are hoping for in terms of success with this one, with 3rd time the charm.

EDIT ADDON: as for the NOC list thing, I'm sure this got discussed here the first week we saw footage revealing she'd lost this list. I can't think of any other board where I'd've discussed this, unless maybe it was with somebody at work, where the NOC list came up (or maybe it was with my wife.) It works with the Logan recycling notion, regardless of context.

trevanian wrote:

Because most all of Logan's 'creative' output is just recycling stuff slightly under a generation out of date, I guess with the thought than everything old is new again (for the next batch of paying audiences.) He has worked on acclaimed films, but often as one of several writers, and as first writer on stuff like AVIATOR, he was assured principal credit even though his work on the script ended in 1996 or so.

Fair point. He wrote the first act of GLADIATOR, which is basically the first act of Titus Andronicus with a few film-specific changes (but he actually did a pretty decent job of it, because Titus Andronicus was pretty weak; it's fairly obvious that Shakespeare didn't understand the conventions of the genre at the time).

Plus he is writing to suit the director -- emperor's death is practically Tyrell's demise in BLADE RUNNER, with a statue standing in for the owl -- which worked out well for him, since he got to do RKO 281, which is pretty much a script done with the CUT and PASTE functions ... it works well, but without grace or imagination.

And recently I found out his involvement with ON ANY SUNDAY was at the behest of a guy who overheard the fact that an associate with Oliver Stone had gotten a script on the subject done, and this guy got a ripoff version done overnight and wound up half stealing the project, with Logan as lead writer and the actual original writers only credited as consultants. Makes me think this guy has got serious legal representation.

I'm guessing he is script doctor on this occasion.

Peter Morgan worked with Purvis and Wade on the initial story. He then left when MGM ran into trouble, but Purvis and Wade still held onto the script and probably kept writing it, because that's what writers do. Logan wasn't brought on until production resumed. Given the speed at which the film reached the shooting stage, I doubt he has done much in the way of restructing the script. He's probably just done what Paul Haggis did for CASINO ROYALE and rewritten dialogue here and there and inserted bridging scenes where needed.

Morgan said the only thing they kept on board was his hook.

And he left production shortly after MGM hit strife. There was plenty of time for Purvis and Wade to write and rewrite the film before Logan was brought on-board.

Sorry, I didn't realize P&W were being credited with the screenplay, I thought it was Logan alone, which would have meant he'd rewritten at least 3/4 of the thing. IMDB has all three listed, though I have no idea if that info is final.

Plus there is the Patrick Marber thing ... he isn't on imdb but he is listed elsewhere, and I don't know WHEN he was on the show, pre-Logan but post-P&W?

From what Mendes said, P&W wrote their version, and then he and John Logan went to town on the script shaping it into exactly what they wanted it to be.

trevanian wrote:

Plus there is the Patrick Marber thing ... he isn't on imdb but he is listed elsewhere, and I don't know WHEN he was on the show, pre-Logan but post-P&W?

As far as I know, Marber was never involved. His supposed role came up when Mendes was rumoured to be cutting out all the action scenes and replacing them with "characterful moments", but we since know that the action has been left unmolested, so Marber's involvement is probably non-existant.

As it turns out, Morgan's draft was binned when Mendes came on-board:

Quote :

"Absolutely not. Definitively not. That's a lie. I don't want to make a big story about it, that's just not true ... I read that treatment of Peter's and nothing remains. He wrote the treatment, but they binned it when I arrived. That credit grabbing is not fair on the writers."

Looks like SKYFALL is all Purvis, Wade and Logan.

http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/news-and-features/features/movies/e3i181dbc6afbbcf91d02fec26e3496d7c8

Which leaves me wondering what Logan's "big hook" was. There was talk that the plot of SKYFALL revolved around a downed satellite, so I wonder if that was it. Although this rumour first picked up during the round of set visits when the train crash was filmed.